Simple Liberties
by Lennee
Summary: In honor of Independence Day, the Academy has created a Simple Liberties project. The topic… Blind or Deaf?


**Simple Liberties**

**ARGH! I forgot to submit this yesterday! My stupidity annoys me!

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**

**Summary:** In honor of Independence Day, the Academy has created a Simple Liberties project. The topic… Blind or Deaf?

**Dedicated to:** Syaoran no hime, one-shots rule!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto… even if I wish I did

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"NANI!" Naruto screamed, "A WRITING ESSAY? WHAT THE HELL?" 

It wasn't often that people could say that Naruto had hit the nail on the head, but for once, he did. And he hit it rather hard as well.

Iruka scowled, "Sit down Naruto. Yes, we are having a writing assignment. It is after all Independence Day."

"Ano, Iruka-sensei, the July Fourth celebration occurs only in the United States of America," Sakura said. **Inner Sakura, "HELL YES, I'LL GET FULL MARKS AND IMPRESS SASUKE!"**

"That is true Sakura, but that's beside the point. This essay is not to describe the event, but to describe the theory behind it. Now, what is the definition of a liberty?"

"The right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing," Sakura said quickly, glancing at Sasuke to see if he was impressed. Needless to say, he wasn't.

"Excellent Sakura, well put. This essay will be based on the liberty of the senses. Can anybody tell me what that means?"

"The right and power of observation through the five senses of taste, smell, feel, sight, and hearing," Sakura answered.

"Excellent Sakura, well put," Iruka said, he had that phrase down pat.

"In preparation for this essay, everyone must choose a partner," Iruka said, then quickly said, "Or rather, I'll choose," as children started swarming, looking for their best friends and bargaining for who gets who.

"AWWWW," said the whole class.

Looking at the roster, Iruka called out a pair, "Sakura and Sasuke"

"YES, SASUKE-KUN, I'M YOUR PARTNER. TAKE THAT INO-PIG."

"You'll slow me down."

Shikamaru stared at Ino. Steam was spouting out of her ears, her face was turning red, "Che, girls."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO ME-"

"Shikamaru and Ino."

"Why am I always stuck with you? Lazy ass," Ino muttered.

"Hinata and Kiba."

"YOSH! I'M YOUR PARTNER HINATA!"

"G-good K-kiba-kun," Hinata said with a little smile. Inside, she was distraught at the fact of not being with Naruto.

"Naruto and Shino."

"…"

"Who's Shino?"

"Chouji and ?" (For the benefit of not having to create a random character for Chouji, he won't be included, sorry.)

"? And ?"

And so on.

* * *

Iruka picked up a box and showed its contents to the class, a bunch of blindfolds and earmuffs. 

"In preparation for the project, every pair must choose a blindfold and earmuff. Can anyone guess what is going on?"

"The liberties of sight and hearing will be the topic of the essay."

"Excellent Sakura, well put. For the next hour, each partner must choose to be blind or deaf. Then, you will switch. Your essay will be to tell which one you believe is worse."

Iruka passed all the items out, "Once you have chosen who gets what, we will begin."

"Sasuke-kun, which would you like to try first?" Sakura asked sweetly.

Sasuke grabbed the blindfold and tied it on, then sat down without a word.

Ino observed Sasuke, and then grabbed the blindfold from Shikamaru who was trying to put it on.

"What was that for?" Shikamaru asked annoyed. Ino glared and Shikamaru decided that he was better off just putting the earmuffs on.

"Hinata, which one do you want?" Kiba asked anxiously.

"I-I d-don't m-mind which o-one, K-kiba-kun."

"You can have the blindfold then, here I'll help you."

"Hey bug-boy, I'll take the earmuffs and you take the blindfold, k?"

"…"

"Has everybody decided?" Iruka asked, "Then let's begin today's lesson."

What followed was an hour of mass chaos. The earmuff students, unused to the deathly silence, couldn't figure out which volume they should speak at. During lectures, they had to copy their partner's extremely sloppy notes from having to write without looking. In turn, they had to deal with yells in their ears about problems that were written on the board.

After that hour of mass chaos, another hour of mass chaos ensued. This time, the roles were switched.

The group that was coping the best by far was Sasuke and Sakura. Both had good penmanship, making the writing at least somewhat legible. Sasuke was so used to Sakura screaming that it didn't bother him a bit. Sakura was too excited at the idea of being Sasuke's partner to care that he was yelling in her ear.

Shikamaru was in dire need of an aspirin. His ears couldn't take non-stop Ino-yelling. However, as he was far too lazy to care what he got, he didn't copy notes or solve problems. This caused quite a problem for Ino, as she wanted to impress Sasuke. Shikamaru's blank paper wasn't helping. It could be assumed that her screams were not caused because of the earmuffs.

Hinata already was unable to raise her voice; the awkward situation only caused her to speak softer. On more than one occasion, Kiba would try to write, "What?" and fail miserably at it, causing more confusion. However, both were aware of the others feelings, and didn't push things too much.

Shino was rolling his eyes at unimaginable speeds, though you couldn't really see. Naruto's stupidity was multiplied by the situation. Shino could already see failure written on his essay. His silence was also making it hard for Naruto to learn anything. Also, as he pretended to ignore everyone anyways, the ear muffs didn't really change anything for him. It was a very VERY sad spectacle.

Iruka rubbed his head; he was beginning to regret his decision during the School Board meeting to have an Academy-wide project. He stared fixatedly at the clock, 5 more seconds.

4…

3…

2…

1…

"OK," he roared, getting the attention of even the ones who had earmuffs on, "TAKE YOUR CURRENT RESTRAINER OFF!"

Everyone complied at once.

Iruka took a deep breath and said, "For the rest of the day, you may work on your essays. You must choose which one you think is worse, being blind or being deaf and give me reasons. Four pages. Have a title page that includes your choice of a title for this project, your name, your partner's name and date due, which is July 7th. Start," before collapsing back onto his chair and closing his tired eyes. Ah, the life of an Academy teacher.

* * *

Ah, the life of an Academy teacher in grading papers. It was the 7th of June, recess. He stared at the stack in front of him, estimating how many he could probably start before the kids came back in. Maybe seven. 

Taking the top paper, he read the title page.

Unseeing vs. Unhearing

Haruno Sakura

Partner: Uchiha Sasuke heart

July 7th

In very neat handwriting.

Iruka thanked his stars. This was a great start. Picking it up and leaning back, he began reading, not even picking up the red pen that lay untouched on his desk.

_The definition of blind is sightless; the definition of deaf is lacking the sense of hearing. Both mean great trials to whomever the plague falls upon. Trials of the body, mind, and heart. The consequences of both allow me to say that I would choose neither. Choosing to be blind would result in the inability to see Sasuke's handsome face. Choosing to be deaf would result in the inability to hear Sasuke's wondrous voice. Both are things that I could never live without…_

Iruka gaped. Shaking his head, he put the paper on his desk. He didn't want to read four pages of Sasuke-worshiping. He picked up the next paper.

* * *

Sasuke's Face or Sasuke's Voice

Yamanaka Ino

Partner: Nara Stupid

July 7th

What Iruka read was a nearly carbon copy of Sakura's paper, more grammatical mistakes, smaller words. He placed the paper on top of Sakura's and rubbed his head before picking up the next one.

* * *

Bugs

Aburame Shino

Partner: Uzumaki Naruto

July 7th

_I would rather be deaf. Being part of the Aburame clan means that bug observation is my one and only hobby. The noises that bugs make are limited, but the sight of a new bug is enough to make me quirk the corner of my lip. For example, the adult female Black Widow spider has an hourglass marking on her abdomen's underside and a spot or stripe above. Also, when Black Widow spiders mate, there is a high risk of the female poisoning the male. In many cases, the female will proceed to eat the…_

The rest of the paper included many sightings of unique bug species that Iruka decided was better off unread for now.

* * *

Iruka flipped through the next few papers. Their titles all included the word Sasuke. Until he came across… 

Ramen

Uzumaki Naruto

Partner: Unnown

July something

Iruka sighed, pulled out his handy aspirin bottle and began reading.

_I wud rather be def. If I was blinde, than I wud not see the delicius steem, the many noodles and soup from my instant ramen. If I was def, than I wud not heer me slurp the noodles, wich is good. I do not want to not taste. _

_End _

**(Author's Note: Sorry, if I make Naruto look REALLY stupid. Naruto's my fav character.)**

Iruka rolled his eyes. At least he managed to finish one. He picked up the next one.

* * *

Dogs

Inuzuka Kiba

Partner: Hyuuga Hinata

July 8th

Ignoring the wrong date, at least Kiba tried, Iruka began.

_I would rather be blinde. If I was def, then I couldn't talk to Akamaru. At least if I was blinde, Akamaru would be able to tell me what's going on. If I was def, then I couldn't make others look at me weird when I speak to Akamaru. If I had a choice, I would rather be smellless, cause some people smell really bad. _

_End._

Hey, at least Iruka finished another one. The next paper said…

* * *

The Uchiha Massacre

Uchiha Sasuke

Partner: Haruno Sakura

July 7th

_The history of this village has been filled with many tragedies, from the Kyuubi attack, to the closing of the southern training grounds. However, the most regrettable is that of the Uchiha Massacre. If I had a choice, I would rather be blind. If rendered unable to view through hate-filled eyes, I would not have seen my parent's mangled bodies or HIS emotionless face as he killed them all, one by one. _

Iruka stared at the large hole in the paper. The writing leading up to the hole had been fierce; the pencil marks were becoming darker and darker.

_I would not have had to look into HIS eyes and experience the same day, over and over again. The sight of my Aunt and Uncle's body being pierced at the same time. My Uncle's first as he tried to protect my Aunt. Watching them live together, then die apart. The sight of my little cousin, draped over his favorite teddy, which had been beheaded along with its master. The sight of my mother and father, killed by HIM, their bodies piled on each other like animals ready for the slaughter. _

Iruka stopped reading before he was traumatized for life. The distant chatter of children's voices told him that he had to hurry.

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Blind or Deaf

Hyuuga Hinata

Partner: Inuzuka Kiba

July 7th

_I am not a very confident person, this I know. I am not very sure of my decisions or my ideals. One thing I'm quite sure of is that I'd much rather be deaf than blind. Everyone speaks different languages; therefore, everyone hears different things. However, everyone sees the same world, the same colors, the same textures, and same beauty. Flowers in France are not seen differently than Flowers in Florida. The tall mountains, the wide plains, are all seen with the same fervent admiration through all eyes. _

_Being deaf means that one cannot hear scornful words. They cannot hear angry shouts or insults of failure. One cannot be injured mentally by the sight an emotionless person. One can only be injured by his words, his scorns, his insults. Being blind would mean that the only thing that fills my mind each day is those barbs that go straight through my heart. This is why I believe that being deaf is better than being blind.

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_

Iruka smiled and looked out the window at the beautiful, sunny day, ignoring Sakura's and Ino's squeals, Sasuke's "you annoy me"s, Naruto's and Kiba's yells, Hinata's stutters.

…_everyone sees the same world, the same colors, the same textures, and the same beauty… _

Hinata had hit the nail on the head… hard.

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A/N- REVIEW, NOW! Happy Belated Fourth of July 


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